Automatic folding seat construction



p J. E. ERICKSON.

AUTOMATIC FOLDING SEAT CONSTRUCTION. APPLICATION FILED MAY I4. 192].

l 42 9 1 Patented Sept. 5, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

I/v VENTOR: JbH/v E. ER/CKSON *%M// Mm A 7' TORNE Y8 L E. ERICKSON.AUTOMATIC moms sm cousmucn'ou. APPLICATION FILED MAYI4.192I- 71,428,018, PatentedSept. 5, 1922.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2- I N VEN TOR Jmv E. E RIC/(SON.

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A 7- TOR/vars 1. E. smpxsou. AUTOMATIC FOLDING SEAT CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILED MAY I4 I92!- Patented Sept. 5, 1922* 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

' when the occupant of a seat rises topermit.

Patented .gept. 5, 19232,

JOHN E. nnionson, or en. PAUL, innnnsora;nssienon, BY nrnn'cnnnn MnsN'nCQ1I NY,DE surname, WISCONSIN,

ASSZGNMENTS, no AUTOMATIC acolerone'rion on VTZSGGNSIN.

AUTOMATIC FOLDING SEAT CONSTRUCTION.

T 0 all whomitmag concern:

Be it known that I, Jenn E. Enrcnson,

a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Paul, State ofMinnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAutomatic Folding Seat Constructions, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to automatic folding seat constructions; It isintended particularly for use in connectionwith seats such as. theaterchairs and school chairs and benches, such as are, commonly used out ofdoors- Anobject is to provide a construe tion in which the seat memberis automatically folded'or lifted when notheld down and in which theweight of the sitting sume the proper position for weight. In placeswhere it is desirable that unoccupied seats should be lifted myconstruction does not require any manualfold ing or lifting when theseat is notin use. This is of especial advantage in the use of.theaterseats since the unoccupied seats when my invention is usedarealways back personwhen out of the way to permit easy passage of personsgoing to 'or from their seats and,

the passage of otherpersons, the seat automatically'folds or lifts so:that he can move back sufficiently to permitother'persons to pass. Inthe case of school seats or other chairs the occupant rises, his seatautomatically placed adjacent adcsk or table, when folds and the personhas easy passageto and from the seat. as park benches, the seat members.on account of not being in horizontal position whenunoccupied, will bekept much cleaner since there is not only lessopportunity for dirt tocollect or be depos ted thereon but the action of rain willwashthenimore' effectively. The use of my automatic folding chairconstruction permits the occupants of the chairs to pass out much morequickly which is of especial advantage in case of auditoriums.

fire in theatres, schools. and other public The full objects andadvantages of my invention will be apparent from the foregoingdescription, and the novel features embodied in myinventive idea will bepar tlcularly polntedout in'the claims.

in the county of Ramsey and down causes the seat member to as supportinghis In the case of benches such,

Application nee May. 14, 1921. Serial N0. 469,5 61.

L is a side elevational view of a chair provided with my invention. Fig;2 is a view in central sectionthrough the chair with the seat member indepressed position. 3 is a viewsimilar to" Fig. 2 but showing the seatmemberin folded position. Fig. 4 is view in vertical section on the line4. 4: of 5. Fig. 5 isa front elevational view with the scat member indepressed position. F 6 is a view inhorizontal section on the line 6+6of Fig. 5.

vational view of a bench providedfwith my invention. Fig. 8 is asideelevational view I thereof. 1 F 9. is a view insection on the line 99 of Fig. 7. Fig. 10 is a top plan View of one of the devices removedfrom thebenclrf f Referring first to the embodiment of the Intheaccompanying drawings, Fig. 1

invention shownin Figs. 1 to 6, the numen al .12designates in generalthe frame of a theater chair having the customary arms liand aback l6extendingup from a lower v verticalportion 18. In carryingout myinvention, I provide a casting or other suitablemetallic member 20adapted to be se- 30 formed near the lower end of'the can.-.

ing 20. A link member 32 connects cars" 34 on an intermediate portionofthe casting 24 with ears 36 on the upper end of the castinn 20.

the link member 32 is preferably formed with two side portions38intermediately connected by a shorter slightly depressed portion 40 sothat a rearwardextension of the casting '24 may be received in thedepression when the seat member is in lowered position as shown in Fig.2. Atthe rear'of the connecting-portion 4.0 the side members 38 aredepressed to formtheoffset *portionstEZ, these beingthe portions whichare directly pivoted to the cars 36. On account of this construction andon ac count'of the fact that .whenthe seat memher is in its loweredposition, the rear thereof is spaced from'the back member, liabilityoft-he occupant of the chair getting. his

Fig. 7 is'a front elecured in suitable manner to the lower por-Securedto the lowers1de of the.

As best shown in Figs. 3 and 6,

finrers pinched is avoided. A. rod A is pivotally attached at its upperend to ears lo connected to the rear of the depressed portion at) of thelink member 'lhe roc is surrounded by a coiled spring L8 and this rodand spring are adapted to work in a tube or barrel. 50 which ispivotally attached at its lower end to ears 52 on the lower end'of thecasting 20. lVhen the seat is not occupied or otherwise held down, theaction of the spring l8 forces the rod upwardly and, by means of thelink iiiem ber 82, causes the seat member to assun'ie the position shownin Fig. 3, the movement of the front of the seat member being restrainedby the link member 26.

Referring to the form of invention shown in Figs. 7 to 10, the numeral54; designates end frame members of a bench connected byslats 56 whichform the back and by lower slats 58. in applying" my invention to bench,I prefer on account thereof to apply one ofmy operating devices at eachend thereof. Since these two devices are exactly alike, a description ofone of them will be sufiicient. A metallic member 60 is secured to thelower slats in suitable manner. Secured to the lower side of the seatmember 62 is a metallic member 641. A. link member ('56 preferably intwo ing each other at the top as shown in Figs. 7 and 10 connects pivots68 on the front of the member 6% with a pivot 70 on the lower end of themember 60. A link member 72, the rear portion 7% of which is downwardlyoffset, connects a pivot 76 on the rear of the member 6% with a pivot 78on the upper end of the member 60. A rod 80 is supported at its lowerend on the pivot 70 and the upper end of this rod entends slidably intoa tube 82, which at its upper end is pivoted to a lug 84; secured to theoffset portion T l of the link member 72. blurrounding: the rod 80 andinterposed parts and meet bet *een a shoulder on the lower endthereof tothe frame in the plane of pivoting to the and the lower end of the tube82 is a coiled spring 86. When the seat is not occupied or otherwiseheld down, the action of the spring 86 forces the tube 82 upwardly and,by means of the link member 72, causes the seatmember to assume theposition shown in 9, the movement of the front of the seat being;restrained by the link member 66. As shown in Fig. 8, the rear of theseat member when depressed is spaced from the back so that there is noliability of the occupant getting his iin ers pinched when he sits down.

The operation and advantages of my invention will be obvious from theforegoing description. The principle of operation whether embodied inchair form or bench form is precisely the same but the bench on accountof its length is preferably provided of the length with onoof thedevices at each end. It will be noted that the seat member when notoccupied is in an inclined position with the rear end highest.Therefore, the mere act of sitting on the seat readily brings itintoproper position for supporting the occupant.

I claim:

l. A folding seat construction comprising a frame and back portionrigidly connected with said frame, a seat member, a pair of linkspivotally connected at their lower ends at spaced points to said framein substantiall a vertical plane with the lower end of said rigid backportion and pivoted at their forward ends at spaced points to the seattoward the front thereof, said links being substantially parallel pivotslocated substantially forwardly of and the last named theback when theseat is unoccupied,

2. A folding seat construction comprising a frame and back portionrigidly connected.

with said frame, a seat member, a pair of links pivotallv connected attheir forward ends to spaced points toward the front of the seatand attheir points in substantially a vertical plane to, said frame, and athird link pivoted to one of id links and to the frame in the plane ofpivotingto the frame of the first-named links, and spring meansassociated with the third link form-ting; upon the first-named links tocause them to fold said seat when the same is not occupied.

3. A folding seat construction comprising frame and back portion rigidlyconnected 0 said frame, a member, a pair of links "votally o spacedpoints to ward the front of the seat and at their other ends at spacedpoints in substantially a vertical plane to said frame, the upper ofsaid links having two otlset portions with a r ethn c led connection,and a third link pivoted atits upper end to said connection and at itslower end thereto, a third 'member connecting said frame and said seatmember and pivotally attached thereto, anda spring. associated with saidthird member which causes said seat member to assume a folded positionwhen unoccupied.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aiiiX my signature.

- JOHN E. ERIGKSON.

other ends at spaced connected at their forward ends I

